When it comes to crime against children, such as mistreatment or sexual abuse, statistics show that the danger does not lie with strangers but is closer to home, usually involving a relative or someone close to the family. As parents, we need to communicate with our children, showing them what is right and wrong and getting them to use their common sense.

Parenting needs to be practised with tact and subtlety. If we want our children to behave well, we have to change the mould, which is ourselves as parents. Dr Tengku Asmadi Tengku Mohamad talks about the issues that concern the Malay family but, really, they are issues that concern all of us.

Dr Milton Lum gives us the lowdown on feeding newborns cow’s milk. If there is a family history of allergies (eczema and asthma), it is advisable to totally breastfeed the baby for six months or more, he says. This will delay the onset of symptoms if the baby has cow’s milk allergy. There are other benefits of breastfeeding which include improved immunity for the child and bonding.

Meanwhile, Australia has agreed to toughen protection for women who want to breastfeed in the workplace under proposed changes to its Sexual Discrimination Act. ‘”This reinforces the message that breastfeeding is important,’ says the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

A couple of homeschooling success stories from the trenches this week: the story of Dakota Root—homeschooled since birth—who recently got accepted into Harvard University … also Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Duke, Chicago, Cal-Berkeley, USC and several more. We also have the story of homeschooler Naomi Leitch, who has graduated from the University of West Florida at 18.